A Brief History of Canada, 2nd Edition by Roger E. Riendeau

"Canada's heritage has been an extended, attention-grabbing, and intensely self reliant evolution, in marked distinction to the violence that typifies the United States's tale. such a lot american citizens be aware of embarrassingly little approximately their northern neighbor's exact heritage, from its first sighting by way of the Norse to its complete confederation in 1922 to modern social democracy. Now, within the wake of NAFTA and the Quebec main issue, an figuring out of the forces that experience pushed Canada's improvement during the last four hundred years is extra very important than ever. a short background of Canada fills the space with an authoritative narrative background that mixes sturdy reference worth with necessary analysis."--BOOK JACKET. "With greater than 20 pictures and 8 maps. a short historical past of Canada is an enlightening advent to the country and its people."--BOOK JACKET.

"Canada's heritage has been a protracted, attention-grabbing, and intensely self sufficient evolution, in marked distinction to the violence that typifies the United States's tale. so much americans be aware of embarrassingly little approximately their northern neighbor's detailed historical past, from its first sighting through the Norse to its complete confederation in 1922 to modern-day social democracy.

The U. S. -Mexico warfare (1846-1848) introduced centuries of dramatic territorial expansionism to an in depth, and it sounds as if fulfilled America's happen future. Or did it? at the same time politicians schemed to annex new lands in Latin the USA and the Pacific, different americans aggressively pursued expansionism independently.

In keeping with the worldwide flip in scholarship on colonial and early sleek heritage, the eighteen essays during this quantity supply a clean and much-needed viewpoint at the wider context of the stumble upon among the population of precolonial Virginia and the English. This assortment deals an interdisciplinary attention of advancements in local the US, Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Chesapeake, highlighting the mosaic of areas and impacts that shaped the context and impetus for the English payment at Jamestown in 1607.

Over thousands of years, the Inuit developed from their Paleoeskimo ancestors, notably the Dorset and Thule cultures, a special ability to adapt to their barren and polar environment by making inventive use of meager local resources. They hunted caribou, polar bear, seal, and whale not only for their food but also for all the various necessities of life. The skins of these animals, for example, were used to make clothing and footwear, tentlike summer shelters, and both single-seated water craft known as kayaks and larger vessels called umiaks.

The slaves were either prisoners of war or their offspring. They had no civil rights and could be sold at their noble owner’s will. To enhance their prestige, the chiefs and nobles would organize a potlatch, a special kind of feast that involved a distribution of gifts according to the rank of the invited guests. Potlatches were celebrated on all possible occasions, and noble families often competed against each other to provide lavish gifts as a sign of their wealth and generosity. The indigenous peoples of the interior plateau region were less populous and more scattered than their Pacific coast neighbors, primarily because of the difficulties of communication in this rugged area between the coastal mountains and the Rockies.

Sailing into Cumberland Sound for about 150 miles, Davis was forced to turn back by stormy weather. Convinced that he had located the passage to Asia, he returned to Baffin Island in 1586. In fog and poor weather, he strayed off course and ended up along the coast of Labrador. On a third attempt, in 1587, Davis sailed up the western coast of Greenland through Davis Strait and into Baffin Bay, reaching farther north than had any other previous navigator. He crossed westward to Baffin Island before proceeding south to explore Cumberland Sound, but never ascertained whether it was a closed inlet or an open sea.